


The sky is coming down and time is running out

by Madalena



Series: We Built a Dynasty Like Nothing Ever Made [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Ancient Artifacts, Angelic Magic, Background Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other, Warlock magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:13:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madalena/pseuds/Madalena
Summary: Five years have passed since Valentine was defeated. Five years since Alec and the New York Institute led an exodus from the Clave.Life was good.But then an emergency call from Helen at the Los Angeles Institute, about crimes involving one of Magnus' oldest friends, threatens to upend everything Alec and Magnus have worked so hard to create - peace, trust, transparency and the very foundations of their lives together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And here we are again!
> 
> For those of you just joining us, this story is the first in a series ("All the Ashes in My Wake") that is a sequel to my series "Gonna Need A Spark to Ignite", both a part of the "We Built a Dynasty Like Nothing Ever Made" saga. If you haven't read that one yet, click on over [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/971898) to do so, or, if you just want to dive into this one, the summary (in italics below, since I couldn't fit it within the character limit of this "Notes" box) will tell you all the main plot points that you need to know from it. If you've already read "Gonna Need A Spark to Ignite", you can skip past the summary and head right to the story, which is set five years *after* the end of that series. Enjoy, my lovelies! <3
> 
> Title is from "No Matter What They Say" by Svrcina.

_**Summary of "Gonna Need A Spark To Ignite"** : Going canon-divergent from 2x17 after Magnus confronts Alec about the Soul Sword: An angry and heartbroken Magnus visits the Seelie Court, and with the Seelie Queen on board, they take down the wards at the Institute. Magnus, having underestimated what the Seelie Queen would do and the lengths she'd go to cause him and Alec pain, has to watch as the Seelie Queen has Alec whipped, taking his blood in compensation for the Seelie dead after the activation of the Soul Sword. She further infects him with a demon powder, which inadvertently sparks a war in his blood that results in the gang having to work a magical ritual on Alec in which he gains some level of warlock power, and his runes turn gold. His powers have limitations - they all work through the prism of Love. (Story: "There's a tear in my heart where your lies left a mark and now nothing is clear")_

_The Clave, furious at Magnus for breaking the Accords, and Alec, for what he said while under duress to the Seelie Queen, sentences them both to death for treason, but Alec calls upon his right to undergo an ancient angel trial known as the Trial of Hemarton to clear both himself and Magnus of their supposed crimes. During this trial, Alec communicates with the Angel Raziel, who reveals to him the location of the Mortal Mirror, that Valentine has spies within the Clave, and that if Alec can defeat Valentine he will be in a position to lead an independent faction of Shadowhunters into the future. (Story: "But innocence is gone and what was right is wrong", "Bodies and souls collide when all the stars align")_

_Alec reveals the location of the Mortal Mirror to the Downworld instead of the Clave, and while Magnus, Luke and Raphael are away at a summit of Downworlders to discuss what to do with the Lake, Alec is taken captive by Jonathan, who threatens Max to get Alec to reveal how he became what he was - a being that is both Shadowhunter and warlock. Alec reveals enough secrets to save his brother's life, but Jonathan cuts off his binding runes and then stabs Max. Alec goes after Jonathan in revenge, and Max is revealed to have been the Seelie Queen in disguise - she had also wanted to know how Alec became what he was. (Story: "I had to learn the hard way that salvation has its price")_

_The missing binding runes send Alec into a magical coma as his soul screams for its bonded partners - Jace on the Shadowhunter side and Magnus on the warlock side - resulting in them losing consciousness as well. While Jace and Magnus navigate Alec's dreamscape to stabilize his soul so that they can all awaken, a showdown between Inquisitor Imogen Herondale and Maryse Lightwood is just the latest in a series of disagreements with the Clave, who seem to be more interested in Alec's powers and style of leadership than fighting Valentine. After a last confrontation with a dream manifestation of Asmodeus, Magnus' demon father, who gives them dire warnings about the future, they awaken, and bring Alec out of the coma. (Stories: "We go deeper than the ink beneath the skin of our tattoos", "I'll love you past the breaking point")_

_By this point, the Downworlder summit has dispersed, and Magnus and Alec meet with the High Warlock Council to go over what was decided - the Shadowhunters would need to be at the centre of a binding on Lake Lyn to protect it from Valentine, and Alec's Shadowhunters would have to come up with something that would allow Shadowhunters and Downworlders to fight as equals against Valentine. Alec's inner circle is taken to the Silent Brothers, who awaken their dormant angelic magic, and then, together with a matched group of warlocks, they perform the warding on the Lake. (Story: "Everything could stay the same or we could change it all")_

_After returning to New York, and becoming aware of other Institutes worldwide that had also been cut off by the Clave, Clary comes up with the Alliance rune, which would allow the Shadowhunters and Downworlders to fight as equals. When it becomes known that the Seelie Queen has given aid to Valentine's forces, Alec is able to extract a promise from her to change her mind, so that Valentine only thinks that she has aided him, but this comes with a heavy promise for the future - the Seelie Queen tells him that there is a boy protected by one of the Shadow Markets that she can't get to, and that he has a valuable artifact that she wants, and when that boy loses that protection and comes to look for it with Alec instead, he is to give that artifact to her._

_In the ensuing battle with Valentine, he raises the Angel, but is not able to use the wish. Luke kills Valentine, and Magnus ends up claiming the wish from the Angel - and he wishes that he and Alec would be able to provide a safe haven for any and all Shadowhunters or Downworlders who need it. Following the battle, after the Silent Brothers caution the Clave that if they do not allow Alec and his forces to leave peacefully, the Clave would lose any right to call on the Silent Brothers, Alec and Jia Penhallow, the new Consul, negotiate a peaceful separation from the Clave for the New York Institute and any allied Institutes._

_They return home, and Alec reveals to Magnus what he promised the Seelie Queen, meanwhile, the Seelie Queen herself talks to her prisoner, and tells them that their mother is much more interested in Alec than she is in her own child. (Story: "Get your weapons ready for tonight is our battle")_

* * *

Magnus stepped out of a Portal, dropping onto the lawn of the New York Institute as the sun was beginning to set. He breathed easily - unlike years and centuries past, this Institute didn’t fill him with dread, because it felt of freedom, and of peace.

Peace felt good.

He walked up the front steps, the doors opening to his touch. It wasn’t only Shadowhunters who could come and go freely from the Institute, they had much more in their lives now.

Magnus walked through the Ops Centre, glancing to the classrooms and training rooms to the sides of it, glad to see that everyone was working hard. He exchanged nods with a few of the Shadowhunters on duty, but they all already knew where he was headed.

Magnus rapped on Alec’s door lightly, and it swung open to admit him. Alec was already standing up from behind his desk, coming to meet him.

“Hey.” Alec said softly, pulling their hips close as he pressed a kiss to Magnus’ lips.

“Hey yourself. Are you almost done here?”

“For the day, yeah.” His eyes flitted upward. “Paperwork, that is. I do still need to make the rounds upstairs. See if anyone needs anything, you know.”

“Of course.” Magnus said, bringing a hand to stroke over Alec’s jaw. “That’s why I came, to see if there was anything I could do.”

“Maybe.” Alec said, walking back around to his desk. “We’ve had reports from some of the young warlocks that there’s someone new in town. Someone - they’ve felt their presence when they’ve been out, but whenever they’d follow it, whoever it was had just Portalled out. But definitely someone new, someone young, staying in the area, just nervous to talk.”

Magnus nodded. “I’ll talk to some of them, consult with Catarina. They might be young enough, or inexperienced enough, that they don’t fully understand everything yet. Might not have even had an official contact with the Downworld.”

“Great. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with that.”

“Careful, your paternal instincts are showing.” Magnus teased. Alec smiled sheepishly. “Oh, you know I love it. I never imagined our lives to be like this. But I wouldn’t change any of it for anything.”

“I know.” Alec said easily. “I just need to finish this report on the demon nest that Clary found and make sure that it has been sealed properly.”

“You’re still doing so much paperwork.” Magnus tutted. “You’d think leaving the Clave would make less of it.”

“I want to make sure everything’s in order.” Alec said. “I’m - just imagine, Magnus. It has been five years. We have more Institutes joining every year. I think there’s only just the Institutes in Calgary and in Houston that are still affiliated with the Clave here in North America. Most of the others are with us.”

“Well, ever since the Iron Sisters said that they won’t make weapons for the Clave anymore, people have started to sing a different tune.”

“Still though. We won’t bring an Institute on board until we know that they’re not just paying lip service to us.”

“I know, love, I know. But let’s you leave that report for tomorrow, and we make the rounds upstairs now, yeah?”

Alec nuzzled into Magnus’ cheek. “Fine, fine.”

Magnus took Alec’s hand, and they left the office, making their way through the halls to the elevator, taking it up to the eighth floor. While for the weeks following their adventures in Alec’s dreamscape Magnus had been nervous of the elevators, as the changes to the Institute following their departure from the Clave came to pass, that fear eased, and as with everything else in their lives, it turned into something _good_.

Life was good. And now, when they were going to visit Alec’s most satisfying accomplishment, Magnus could just see the joy that was radiating off of his husband’s body.

The doors opened to chaos, but it was a happy chaos. There were children running through the hallways and the playroom, barely mindful of where they were going, and while the adults on the floor did keep some amount of calm, far be it from them to interfere with joy, when there used to be so little of it.

“Alec!” Madzie barrelled into him, hugging his legs.

“Hey.” Alec said affectionately, swooping her onto his hip, though soon she’d be too big for that. “You helping out here today?”

Madzie nodded. “Marista called Auntie Cat and said that she needed a few extra hands. So I said I’d help.”

“Good for you, sweet pea.” Magnus said, ruffling her hair. “Who has been the greatest troublemaker today?”

Madzie nodded her chin at a small Shadowhunter boy sitting in the corner, studiously reading a book on runes. “Caledon.”

Alec gave her a skeptical look. “Really?”

“Really really! He might look calm now, but he was driving Marista nuts earlier. She sent him to the corner. I kept him there.”

Alec tutted. “Now, now. Remember the rules with magic.”

Madzie rolled her eyes. “Fiiiine. But if he tries to draw a rune on me again, I’m going to vanish his stele to the Sahara desert.”

“As you should.” Magnus said, nodding in approval.

Madzie dropped down to the ground, and released the shield that had been blocking Caledon in the corner, but he just looked up at Madzie nervously, and then back down to his book, not moving from the corner.

Magnus and Alec moved through the playroom towards Marista, the woman who was in charge of the nursery. They’d started taking in Downworlder children of all factions, as soon as one of Iris’ experiments had appeared on the front steps of the Institute, already in labour.

After Leigh had given birth, she hadn’t wanted to see her child - or see anything, when she came to realize what all of the memory spells she’d gone through over the years meant. Everything that Iris had done to her, and other women, to pump out warlock child after warlock child. So the High Warlock Council led a mission to find the other women that Iris had subjected to her experiments, and many of them were also horrified by the implications of the memory spells they’d been subjected to. This brought the first wave of warlock children into the Institute’s care.

Where the families that Iris had spoken of were, the loving families in which these warlock children would be raised, Magnus didn’t know. That was one answer he’d never been able to get out of Iris, no matter how many interrogations Jia had granted him. He suspected that they never existed at all.

No more interrogations would be possible, now. The Shadowhunter extremists, led by Inquisitor Herondale, had taken over the Clave two years ago, after three years of relative harmony between the Clave and Alec’s Shadowhunter forces, now known as the _Diaitites_ \- the Arbiters, short for the Arbiters of Justice of the Angels. The extremists had slaughtered all of the Downworlder prisoners in Clave dungeons, and while part of Magnus was glad that people like Iris and Camille no longer had the small hope of escape or release, mostly he was sickened by the wholesale slaughter irrespective of what crimes each prisoner had committed.

While several Institutes had joined them each year since their departure from the Clave on the heels of Valentine’s demise, the larger exodus from the Clave came only after the coup against Jia. The way Alec told it, it was only by a stroke of luck that he’d happened to be in Alicante that day, and had been able to get Jia out before any blood was shed.

Magnus, by his much more cynical nature, believed that Alec’s presence in Alicante had dictated the timing of the coup - they had hoped to eliminate him as well, and return the _Diaitites_ to Clave control. But once again the Clave had underestimated him, and Jia was once again Head of the Beijing Institute, which was a full member of the _Diaitites_. Not long after, the Silent Brothers and the Iron Sisters had cut their ties with the Clave, serving only the _Diaitites_ and the independent Institutes that Alec and his Council had not yet brought on board.

Putting the Clave out of his mind, Magnus smiled at Marista as he and Alec walked up. Marista had been one of Iris’ experiments - a woman with the Sight, who had had at least three warlock children. With Catarina’s guidance, she was raising her children herself, and when Alec began looking for someone to run the Institute nursery, Catarina had recommended Marista for the job. Now she lived in the Institute with her children, and along with several other adults was responsible for the thirty orphan children in the nursery, Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike.

“Any issues today?” Alec asked her. “Madzie tells me that Caledon was misbehaving.”

Marista smiled fondly. “A bit. Kids these days, always getting ahead of themselves. He was a bit too enthusiastic about the new runes he’s learning.”

“I remember my brother Max at that age.” Alec nodded. “Caused the Mumbai Institute no end of trouble.”

“Where is Max now?”

“He’s on his coming-of-age tour around a number of our Institutes. In Mexico City right now, but he’ll be on his way to Los Angeles soon. And we’ll be expecting a few special guests from Los Angeles here while he’s there.”

“Oh?” Magnus asked. Out of all of the Institutes, their relationship was still closest with the Los Angeles Institute, as they’d been the first to officially join their organization - and of course Helen, Mark, Aline and Lydia had already been working with them even before the break from the Clave was official.

“Yeah.” Alec said. “Andrew sent the request this morning. Tiberius and Livia Blackthorn will be here for a month or so. I know Helen mentioned awhile back that they wanted us to oversee their angel magic ceremony. But they’re still missing their tenth, so we’ll have to do some looking around here for who could be suitable.”

Magnus nodded. “Isabelle will probably have some suggestions.”

“Yeah, probably.” Alec looked back to Marista. “Where can we find Todd? I was hoping he could tell Magnus about the new warlock presence he’s been feeling in the area.”

Marista nodded her head towards the dormitories. “Second door on the left. Be careful, he’s still practicing the summoning charms that Catarina’s been teaching him, who knows what you’ll walk into.”

Magnus shuddered as he remembered the previous day, when he’d been called upon to help clean up the playroom after Todd had decided to summon five flocks of cormorants. Magic was an effective cleaner, but the mess had also reminded him of one of his adventures in Peru where he and Ragnor had been wearing the guano instead of cleaning it off furniture.

Memories of Ragnor still ached, but the pain was not as sharp as it used to be.

Alec opened the dormitory door, his other hand swirling with golden sparks at the ready, just in case they were walking into a huge mess. But at first glance, the dormitory seemed quiet.

Magnus and Alec walked inside, weaving around toys and beds until they reached Todd, who was sitting on his bed surrounded by chocolate bars from the bodega around the corner. He looked up guiltily as he stuffed yet another one into his mouth.

“Todd, you know that much chocolate is bad for you.” Magnus said seriously. “If you eat all of it, do you know what will happen?”

The small warlock shook his head, green hair falling into his eyes.

“Next time you try summoning chocolate, you’ll get broccoli instead. Huge heads of broccoli. Maybe even Brussel sprouts too.”

Todd’s eyes widened and he dropped the chocolate bar onto the bed. He snapped his fingers at rapid speed, and the unopened chocolate bars vanished, while the rustle from a nearby garbage can told them that the wrappers and opened bars had appeared there.

“Good boy.” Magnus said, sitting down on the bed. “Alec tells me that you’ve felt another warlock in the area? Maybe another kid like you?”

Todd nodded vigorously. “Yeah. I don’t know how to describe it, but yeah - I feel the magic, and then it’s gone. Like poof. I felt it in the park this morning. I was playing with Sam and Jesi on the monkey bars, and I thought I saw somebody under the slide, I felt magic like ours. But then when I _really_ looked, there wasn’t anyone there anymore. Just a breeze, like if a Portal had just appeared.”

“Sam and Jesi saw them too?”

“Sam felt the magic. Jesi heard something - something Sam and I couldn’t, because werewolf hearing. She didn’t see them or the Portal though.”

“You’ve felt this before?”

“A few times this week. Always in the park. They were much closer today though. Usually they stay back in the forest or something. But I think they’re watching us.”

Magnus nodded thoughtfully. “Okay. I’m going to ask Catarina if she and Madzie can go to the park with you tomorrow. See if they show up again. They’re probably scared. They probably see you and Sam - without your glamours, of course - and think you might be like them. Catarina can watch more closely and hopefully make contact before they disappear again.”

“Does that mean that we’ll have a new brother or sister here soon?”

“It’s possible. But we need to find out who they are first. Thank you, Todd.”

Magnus and Alec left the room, making their way back through the playroom and to the elevator. Once the doors closed behind them, Alec turned to Magnus with a raised eyebrow.

“Summoning too much chocolate will result in summoning broccoli instead? Really?”

Magnus grinned. “Of course not. But now every time he thinks about summoning chocolate, he’ll be focused on broccoli instead. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. You have to be creative when raising warlock children, Alexander.”

“Apparently so.” Alec smiled, kissing Magnus’ temple. “I just hope that this idea won’t interrupt our date nights.”

“I have much better control over my magic than that. Don’t worry, we will always feast on chocolate mousse for dessert instead of broccoli pudding.”

“I’m thankful for that.”

“I aim to please.”

They were both laughing as the doors opened on the main floor, so focused on each other that Alec missed the fire message until he walked right into it, ashes causing him to cough. He frowned, plucking it out of the air and unrolling it as they walked through the Ops Centre.

Alec stopped dead, resulting in Magnus bumping into him.

“What is it?” Magnus asked, concerned about the worried look on Alec’s face.

“No romantic dinner tonight, I’m afraid. Emergency in Los Angeles. Helen needs us both there. Now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec respond to the emergency call, and see what devastation has struck the Los Angeles Institute.
> 
>  **Warnings:** Read the chapter notes, there's quite a few warnings to be aware of!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Blood, bad terrible magic hurting people, and offscreen minor character deaths. Also, **spoilers for _Lady Midnight_ , the first book of the Dark Artifices series.** You don’t need to have read _Lady Midnight_ to understand this story, since my version of events is quite different and adapted for my purposes to go along with the show canon-divergent ‘verse I’ve got going here, but the Big Bad of that book is revealed here in this story, so keep that in mind.

Alec and Magnus stepped through the Los Angeles Portal -

\- arriving into an eerie silence in the entrance hall of the Los Angeles Institute.

“Hello?” Alec called out, looking around, but not seeing anyone.

“Please come to the infirmary.” Came a soft voice from the top of the steps.

Magnus looked up to see Emma, her blonde hair in disarray, a hasty bandage tied around her left bicep. She was leaning heavily against the wall, a seraph blade still dangling from her fingertips, other hand pressed to her side. Out of the corner of his eye, Magnus saw Alec’s hand go to the same place - where his parabatai rune was.

Only then did Magnus look down, and see that they were surrounded by bloody footsteps.

“What happened here?” Magnus asked.

“Please come to the infirmary.” Emma repeated. “Please.” Her voice wavered. “I don’t know how much longer they’ll last.”

Magnus nodded quickly, and he and Alec ran up the stairs, following Emma through the halls covered in more bloody footprints to the infirmary. Her hand trembled as she went for the door handle, and Alec was beside her in a flash, helping her stand and pulling the door open himself.

Like the rest of the Institute, the infirmary was eerily quiet, and it wasn’t difficult to see why - half of the room was full of bodies - on the floor, on the beds, anywhere with a bit of room to spare. Magnus focused his attention on the other side of the room, where the few still standing hovered around beds containing those who were still, for the moment at least, alive.

Alec had already followed Emma to the closest bed, where her parabatai Julian lay, a wide swathe of his skin from his hips to his shoulders a sickly green-black colour. His breathing was slow, but regular, so he didn’t seem to be in immediate danger, but Magnus could feel the evil magic weighing down the young man’s body.

“Magnus, you’re better at diagnostics, can you - ?” Alec asked.

“Of course.”

Magnus moved to the side of Julian’s bed, running his magical flames up and down Julian’s body. After a few minutes, he pulled the flames back, and looked up to the other three.

“Well, the good news is that while he was hit with dark magic, the spell was stopped while it was in progress. So his condition isn’t going to get any worse.”

“But?” Alec asked.

“Since it is a spell rather than an illness or a wound, I can’t undo it without the spellbook that contains the spell used. So I need to know what happened here.”

“It’s happened to all of them.” Emma whispered. “I thought it would go away when _he_ died, but it hasn’t. It hit all of them. They’re still alive, but anyone else it touched - they’re dead. They’re all dead.”

“Emma, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Where’s Helen? She sent me the fire message.” Alec asked softly but firmly.

“It wasn’t her.” Emma said faintly. “I used her stele, but it was me. She’s - she’s like the rest of them. I was hoping you could heal them.” Emma looked up at Magnus. “Or you, if angelic magic couldn’t undo this - this comes from the very depths of Hell. I don’t know what we can do now.”

“We’ll help however we can, of course we will.” Alec said, resting a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “But you do have your own High Warlock here that you can call on for assistance.”

Emma’s expression turned furious. “Don’t you get it? It was _him_ that did this. We have no one. And nothing. And now Jules and his family are -” She slumped down onto the bed next to Julian and started sobbing.

Aline burst through the door, and rushed over to Alec and Magnus. “Thank the Angel you’re here.” Aline said, tears streaking her face. “I called your Institute, but Jace said you were already on your way here. Did Emma call you?”

“I thought we got a fire message from Helen, but now Emma says she wrote it. But we still don’t understand what happened here.” Magnus said carefully. “From the sounds of it, your High Warlock was involved. Malcolm Fade? He’s a good friend. I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it.” Aline said, anger evident in her voice. “I wish it wasn’t, but it’s true. He had us all fooled - worked with us for years, been our _friend_ for years, but it was all a ploy - all a ploy to get into the Institute, steal from us and raise his long-dead lover from the grave. He decimated most of the Institute while barely lifting a finger. He’s spent years pretending to be friends with Shadowhunters, when he’s hated us for centuries for killing his lover - who as a Shadowhunter herself. Annabel Blackthorn.”

“So that explains why here in Los Angeles, full of Blackthorns.” Alec surmised. “Was he drawing on their energy to try and raise her?”

“Necromancy is dark dark magic.” Magnus said. “It does demand blood for blood, life force for life force. Are all of the Blackthorns like this, like Julian?”

Aline started to nod, but hesitated. “Almost all. Except for Andrew. Andrew’s dead. Malcolm cut his throat. Maybe to start the spell? I don’t know. All I know is that we were storming the cave at the convergence, and Malcolm sent a wave of magic through it, which cut down almost everyone in its path, except the Blackthorns, who were hit with what the spell was meant to do, draw on them - and that protected anyone who was standing right behind them. It was just pure luck that I was right behind Helen, and Emma was right behind Jules. Otherwise we’d be dead too.”

“Did the entire Institute go out to fight?” Alec asked.

Aline nodded. “Except for the few teams we had out on patrol already, dealing with some minor disturbances. Alec, he kidnapped Tavvy. Tavvy’s not even old enough to fight yet, but still - he needed all of the Blackthorns. From Tavvy right up to Andrew. That’s why everyone went - we didn’t know what we’d be dealing with when we got there.”

“But what evidence do you have to support that it was Malcolm?” Magnus asked tightly. “I can’t believe he’d do something like this. I’ve known him a long time. Centuries, even.”

“The histories check out. They show that Malcolm Fade was in love with a Shadowhunter, Annabel Blackthorn, in a time before the Accords. He was imprisoned but managed to escape before his execution, but she wasn’t so lucky and they executed her. It was wrong that that happened Magnus, I know. But I also know what I saw today and nothing excuses necromancy. It was Annabel Blackthorn’s body on the altar, soaked in blood. It was his body in the ritual circle around it when we got through to the front of the room.”

“His body. So you don’t know if it was him that was performing the spell, or if it was someone else who got away, and he was being held captive for the purposes of the spell, perhaps because of his emotional connection to her?”

“Magnus, you know my power.” Aline said, looking him in the eye. “You know how it only works in the most extreme of circumstances. Helen - _my wife_ \- was hit with the spell and dropped back right onto me, and started turning a horrible green-black colour as the spell began to drain her. There was something awful happening, both to her and to others. Almost everyone else I saw was dead. So yes. That pure angelic energy started building in me, and it was all I could do to focus it into a bolt that went straight for the source of the darkest magics in that cave, rather than just have it explode out of me and catch innocents, like anyone who has some demon blood, like Helen or Mark. If someone else was performing the ritual, it would have hit them. The fact that it hit Malcolm, and then the ritual stopped, tells me all I need to know.”

“Not me.” Magnus said, shaking his head. “It isn’t enough for me. Malcolm and I have worked together regularly over the centuries. I trust him. I don’t believe he’d do something like this.”

“It is your right, under the Downworld Charter, to call for an investigation.” Aline said. “Since Malcolm was a High Warlock, that means three other High Warlocks can be called in to conduct said investigation. I’ll assume you want to be one of them.”

Magnus nodded. “Of course. I - I’m not saying he’s innocent. But I need to be sure. It isn’t that I doubt your honesty, Aline, but I need to eliminate all other possibilities.”

“I understand. As Acting Head of the Institute - since Andrew always intended for Helen to be his replacement, and since she’s currently incapacitated - I’ll put together the paperwork and you can recommend two other High Warlocks of your choosing to join you. While I do that, can one of you help us out with some other glancing magic injuries? Iratzes aren’t doing anything, and all of the healers were cut down in the cave.”

Alec’s eyes went to Emma, who was still sobbing into Julian’s unconscious shoulder. “Cordelia Carstairs?”

Aline nodded, expression grim. “Both of Emma’s parents. And so many others. Besides the Blackthorns, there’s only eight of us left. Nine, if we count Lydia, but as you know, she’s currently serving as ambassador and inspector to the unaligned Institutes.”

“I’ll send a message to all Institute heads of the _Diaitites_ , looking for volunteers to transfer here. Call Mexico City, see if Max can come up early.” Alec said. “But first, I’ll take care of those injuries if Magnus wants to go with you to start the investigation.”

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand, thankful for the support, as he followed Aline out of the infirmary.

“Did you find any spellbooks in the cave? Any spellbooks with - with Malcolm?” Magnus asked as they headed towards the Office of the Head of the Institute.

Aline shook her head. “No. There was nothing there, besides him and the ritual implements. And Annabel’s body. Could he have memorized it, or would he need the spellbook there?”

“If you’re right, and it was Malcolm, it sounds like this would have been an obsession for him. So it is possible that he’s spent years, decades even, memorizing the components of the spell. But if you’re wrong, it could belong to a different warlock and they took it with them when they escaped, leaving Malcolm to take the fall, and leaving us with a very dangerous criminal still at large.”

“Duly noted.” Aline said, as they stopped in front of the door to the office. “I - I never wanted this, Magnus. Not what happened today, and not this responsibility. I was ready to support Helen in this role when it passed to her, of course I was, but - I never expected to have to do it myself. And I know five years isn’t a long time for immortals who have seen the worst of Shadowhunters for generations -”

“And in the past five years, I’ve seen the best of Shadowhunters.” Magnus said, resting a hand on Aline’s shoulder. “Aline, don’t blame yourself. I just want to make sure all the bases are covered. The Clave would consider it a done deal, but now with the _Diaitites_ , Downworlders have a voice, and respect for our own internal laws. If a High Warlock was engaged in necromancy, which is forbidden by our own laws, he couldn’t have been acting alone. This is as much for everyone’s safety as it is for my own peace of mind.”

Aline nodded. “We’ve been learning a lot about magic here, as the Charter dictates, learning what’s allowed and what’s forbidden, but - now I don’t know if anything we’ve learned is true. I hope that when you’re finished your investigation - when you know - that you’ll be able to give us the truth.”

“I’ll do everything that I can, Aline. I promise you that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what is Magnus going to find? And which other High Warlocks does he call in?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus, Adalina and Gurak begin their investigation, and realize that more - much more - hangs in the balance than just the fate of the Blackthorns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same spoiler warnings as last chapter for _Lady Midnight_ still apply. Other than that, you're good to go!
> 
> Sorry for the delay on this one, I had to work out some issues with this chapter and the next one, now we're all set. Enjoy <3

“You’re sure you’ll be all right on your own?” Alec asked, holding Magnus’ hands between his own.

“I won’t be on my own.” Magnus said, leaning in to give Alec a soft kiss on the cheek. “Adalina and Gurak will be there with me. We’ll find out the truth of it. And if we do run into any sort of trouble, well that’s what this is for, isn’t it?” Magnus ghosted his fingers over the spot on Alec’s hip where their shared rune was. “And you know how important this is for inter-faction relations.”

Alec sighed. “I do. But I worry. If - if Malcolm was responsible, and he’s kept up this pretense for years of everything being okay and Shadowhunters are good friends and _you’re_ good friends - remember, he was lying to you too. So who knows what you could be walking into.”

“I know. That’s why Adalina is going in first, to watch for any sort of malevolent residual magic that could be targeting me. Or any of the others we were close with over the years, like Tessa or Cat. Malcolm and Adalina only saw each other at the occasional Warlock Council. He wouldn’t have any reason to target her. Or warlocks in general.”

“I hope you’re right.” Alec brought one of Magnus’ hands to his mouth, kissing the side of his hand. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“You’re just a Portal away.” Magnus said, mirroring Alec’s kiss with his own.

“All right, you two.” Adalina said fondly. “Magnus, we need to get going. You know the way?”

Magnus nodded. “I do. But I’ll land us outside the reach of his wards, just in case.”

Magnus pulled a Portal into the air, joined hands with Adalina and Gurak, and they stepped through -

\- landing on the edge of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Magnus blinked in the bright light, looking up at the staircase curling into the sky. He noticed some mundanes on the other side of the highway also gawking at it.

“Wards are down.” Magnus murmured to Adalina and Gurak. “We need some new ones up to keep curious mundanes away.”

“You take care of that while Gurak and I check energy signatures.”

They were already cloaked from mundane eyes, and so Magnus began to weave his hands through the air, reaching for the mundane aspects of the world on either side of the staircase, pulling them through his spell to join together and hide the staircase from view. As the wards snapped into place, Magnus turned back towards the mundanes, who were now staring confused in their direction, and he pushed a light burst of memory magic across the road, watching it sweep across their foreheads, and then pulled it back to himself, memories collected. The mundanes blinked a few times, and dispersed.

Job done, Magnus turned to Adalina and Gurak, who were still whispering to themselves as their magic flowed up the stairs and over the land around them. He waited as patiently as he could, twirling his wedding band around his finger, feeling the rune he shared with Alec pulse with worry. Whether it was worry for him, worry for Aline, or worry for the Blackthorns - Magnus wasn’t sure. It had been years since he’d felt this kind of worry emanating from his husband.

That alone was enough to make him worry, too.

“Done.” Adalina said, stepping back. “There’s something I don’t recognize. Gurak, do you feel it?”

“Hmm.” Gurak hummed. “I do. There are some pieces of unfinished magics that I feel, definitely malevolent in nature, and I do believe that at least one of them is meant to have targeted Magnus. But it wasn’t completed.”

Magnus’ heart sank. While he hadn’t wanted to admit it in the Shadowhunters’ presence, the evidence against Malcolm was extremely damning. But he had needed to see for himself. He knew what Alec said was right - if Malcolm had pretended to be friends with the Shadowhunters for this long, he had been playing the same game with Magnus too.

“So it wasn’t completed.” Magnus said. “That means it should be safe for me to go up there, right?”

“It should be. But the whole place is teeming in dark magic. Necromantic signatures, to be sure, but not exclusively. I’ve never seen anything like it. There must be an ancient demonic artifact in there. I’d recommend angelic shields before we go any further. Especially for you, Magnus. Just in case what the unfinished magic is looking for is you.”

“Angelic shields.” Magnus repeated. “Does that mean return to the Institute, call on the Alliance rune?”

“That’s the best solution. In that case it would be best if we brought the Shadowhunters along. I know it isn’t strictly protocol, but for safety’s sake…” Adalina trailed off.

“Protocol.” Magnus smirked. “We _wrote_ the protocols. This isn’t Clave law. These are systems that we created to best serve our people. If our people are best served by not following what we thought was best before, we recognize that what was once written may not apply now, and we change it. That’s the whole point of the Charter and our alliance with the _Diaitites_. Flexibility and adaptation, rather than rigidity.”

Adalina nodded. “So be it.” She pulled a new Portal into the air -

\- and they stepped back into the entrance hall of the Los Angeles Institute. Magnus led the way up the stairs to the infirmary, where he imagined the others would be.

Magnus was right, and he saw Alec look up as soon as the warlocks entered the room.

Alec stood, moving to Magnus’ side. “Did you find what you needed?”

Magnus shook his head. “Not yet. There’s dark magic emanating from Malcolm’s place. Darker than we’ve known, and Gurak says there’s a particularly powerful demonic artifact in there. He recommends angelic shields.”

“Angelic shields.” Alec repeated. “You want to use the Alliance rune.”

“Yes.”

Alec smiled. “Well, we don’t need the Alliance rune. We already have it. Permanently.”

Magnus held up a finger. “Correction. We have the _components_ of the Alliance rune. We do still need to draw the Connection rune to fully access each other’s power.”

“Details.” Alec said, pulling out his stele.

While for several years, when faced with larger demonic threats, Jace and Magnus had still used the Alliance rune together as they had in the battle against Valentine, after Alec and Magnus had married, it didn’t work anymore. Eventually Clary had deduced that it was because Alec and Magnus already had both components of the Alliance rune on their skin - part in their binding rune, and part in their Downworlder-friendly Wedded Union rune. While these runes didn’t function as a permanent Alliance rune - they needed the Connection rune to link them - it did mean that Magnus and Alec were not able to use the Alliance rune with anyone but each other.

There was no pulling Emma away from her parabatai, so Aline and Cristina, a transfer from Mexico City, allied themselves with Adalina and Gurak and joined them on the mission.

They stepped back through a Portal to Malcolm’s -

\- and as soon as they landed, Alec felt the heavy weight of demonic energy, staggering backward as the smell of dead flowers and sulfur assaulted his senses.

“Alexander?” Magnus asked, steadying him. “Portal not agree with you?”

“Portal was fine, just -” Alec felt his voice get raspy. “- I can _feel_ the darkness. I can smell it. We need that protection, now.”

Alec called on his Shadowhunter blood, and he felt Magnus do the same, and a cooling energy that brought the smell of mint rolled over his skin. The weight of the demonic energy lifted, but he could still smell the dead flowers and sulfur.

“Better?” Magnus asked, concerned.

“Better. But not good. I don’t know if it is my mixed blood or what, but I still smell it.”

“Follow your instincts.” Gurak cautioned. “If you think we shouldn’t go up there, I can obliterate the whole house with a word.”

“No.” Alec said. “We need to know what that demonic artifact is. Trying to destroy it from here - that could only make it stronger if we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Magnus?” Adalina asked. “Do you agree with him?”

“I do. We came here to find out what exactly we’re dealing with. We’ve got the best protections we can. Let’s go.”

Adalina led the way up the stairs, and Alec brought up the rear, watching for any demons or other disturbances.

They made their way down the path from the stairs to the house, and Magnus could sense that something was wrong. The normally orderly decorations lining the path leading to the house were destroyed and torn up, as if they’d been thrown around by something many times their size. Demons? He could tell that none were present at the moment, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t passed through earlier.

As the house came into view, Magnus saw that the metal doors had caved in, and he summoned magic into one palm, pulling a seraph blade from Alec’s holster for good measure, feeling the now-familiar weight of it in his hand, its blade pulsing with golden light. To his right, Alec mirrored his stance, also ready to fight with both magic and blade.

Adalina and Aline stepped into the house first, the bright light of Aline’s seraph blade lighting the way. Adalina conjured a few lights into the air that followed them along their path towards the centre of the house, where Alec could feel the dark magic almost drawing them in.

The artifact wasn’t hard to find. The book sat almost innocuously in the middle of Malcolm’s vast worktable. It lay still, but all of the magical items on the desk were slowly trembling away from it, as if they themselves were scared of it.

The fire in Magnus’ hand vanished as he gasped. “No. It can’t be.”

“What is it?” Alec asked. “That book is definitely _it_ , but… what is it?”

“The Black Volume of the Dead.” Gurak said slowly. “Even I thought it was a myth, and I say that about very little. But there’s something wrong with it.”

“Besides it presumably being the source of the worst magics in the world?” Aline asked.

“Yes.” Gurak said. “It shouldn’t be acting like this. A warlock’s greatest power isn’t his magic, but his discretion. His ability to bend the world without tearing a gaping hole into it. When magic is screaming, it is never a good thing. It will tear a hole through the world if we don’t stop it.”

“What would make it… scream like this?” Aline asked.

“It is bound to something else. Like as not, another book equal in power and strength.”

“So there’s another powerful book out there. And something’s happening to that book?” Cristina asked.

“Perhaps. But I feel more than that. Mr Lightwood, you do too, don’t you?”

Alec nodded. “More than just books. People too. Like as not Malcolm bound this book to himself, so now that he’s dead - it is threatening to pull its connections into the Void as well. And take the city with it.”

“So the other book is also bound to a person? Another warlock?” Cristina asked.

“I’m not feeling warlock energies.” Alec exchanged a look with Gurak. “I almost want to say angelic energies. Shadowhunters? But that doesn’t make sense.”

“The spell that’s holding the Blackthorns? They’re definitely bound in some way. Could this be it?” Aline asked. “Can we break it?”

“Sorry, Aline.” Alec shook his head. “They’ll definitely be bound by a spell from this book, but the energy in this binding - it isn’t them. The energy is too weak to be seven people. And you haven’t noticed any powerful books around your Institute, have you?”

“No. But what could it be then?”

“We don’t have time to wonder about it.” Alec said, moving closer to the table. “We need to find the other book, the person it is bound to, and sever all of those connections. When you mix angelic and demonic energies like this - it can turn into chaos real fast. I know that better than anyone.” Alec exchanged a look with Magnus, who knew that Alec was thinking about his own blood, and the battle they’d waged, both internal and external, to control both of those energies within it.

There was a crash as a vial finally slipped off the edge of the table, smashing onto the floor, its contents spilling across the tiles in front of Aline. The vapours made her faint, Adalina jumping to catch her before she hit the floor. Adalina conjured a new vial with one hand, bottling some of the spilled potion.

“I need to get her back to the Institute, figure out what this is and reverse it.” Adalina said. “The book is getting stronger. You _have_ to find what and who it is bound to and stop it, otherwise we’re all doomed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Dark Artifices_ readers - have you spotted the small Easter egg, as it were? ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus, Alec, Gurak and Cristina seek out the other side of the bindings, and find a surprise that they never imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still some tiny _Dark Artifices_ spoilers on the Big Bad here.

While Adalina disappeared through a Portal with an unconscious Aline, the remaining four looked at the Black Volume. The book was beginning to tremble, only slightly, but enough so that they could see it.

“We don’t have much time.” Alec warned. “Whatever we need to do, we need to do it now. How should we move the book? We have shields, but will they hold against direct contact with a demonic artifact like this?”

Gurak looked at Cristina. “It would be best if the book was held by someone with the least amount of demon blood. Unless you’re like Alec, that would be you, girl.”

Cristina didn’t look thrilled with the idea, but knowing the fate of the city was in her hands, she reached for the book anyway. But the closer she moved to the book, the more effort it took, until she was unable to move any closer, hand inches away from the book. Cristina pulled out her stele and activated her Strength rune, sweat dripping down her brow as she tried to push further, but the energy keeping her from the book wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t do it.” Cristina said. “I can’t get through.”

“I’ll try next.” Gurak said.

“I thought you said demon blood would be bad for this?” Cristina said. “Shouldn’t Alec try next?”

“If you can’t touch it, that means the bindings need demon blood to get through. And since the bindings are using both angelic and demonic energies… it is possible that Alec or Magnus touching it is precisely what it wants. I’d rather not go that route if we can avoid it.”

Gurak moved towards the table, closer to the book, but like Cristina, he also came up against an energy barrier keeping him from getting to the book. He got closer than Cristina did, but not close enough.

“What do we do now?” Alec asked.

“You need to try.” Gurak said, stepping back from the barrier. “If you can’t do it, Magnus will have to. And that’s the option I like least of all, given this book’s origins.”

“Same here.” Alec said, looking at the book and then looking to Magnus. “But I also don’t like magical choices forced upon me. Upon us. We always find another option, right?”

“What are you suggesting?” Magnus asked.

“We do it together. Right now.”

Magnus nodded slowly. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

Alec held his hand out to Magnus, who took it firmly. They approached the table, cutting through the heavy air without difficulty, tightening their grips on their joined hands as they reached their other hands for the book in unison, moving as one until their fingertips brushed the surface.

“We’re through.” Alec said in a low voice. “Now what?”

“The angelic shields are protecting us from its influence - for now. But we have to move fast. Focus with me, find the thread of its binding, and we have to follow it.”

Magnus and Alec focused on the book, finding that thread, feeling its pull, turning as they tracked the path of the thread through the room as it headed out the door, back in the direction of the city - right along the trail of the destruction outside.

“What we saw outside, the front door - that’s all a part of this.” Magnus said. “The destruction - it is already starting. On three, pick up the book. And we move. Get down to the highway and see where this leads. Hopefully we can Portal closer instead of having to run all the way through the city.”

They counted to three, lifting the book between them. Their bodies moving as one, they dashed for the door, the path, down the steps, Gurak and Cristina in close pursuit.

Once their feet landed on the ground by the highway, the staircase shattered, raining crystal down over them. They couldn’t see up to the house, but if the rumbling of the ground was any indication, the house was imploding as well.

“The book was tied to the house too.” Gurak said. “No time to waste.”

Magnus and Alec looked again for the binding thread emanating from the book, watching it head due east, right into the heart of the city, before it pulled directly downward, lighting up brighter and brighter near its other end.

Alec turned to Cristina, making sure to still have a hold on the book as Magnus did. “Cristina, I hope you know this city better than we do. We need to go due east of here, just north of the city centre where all the skyscrapers are. Have you been there?”

“I’ve only been here a few months, but I think so.” Cristina said. “Demons like to crawl around Dodger Stadium.” Cristina tracked her fingers down her arm, looking for a particular rune. “I have a Portal rune to there, we go there so much.” She found the rune she was looking for, and touched her stele to it, opening the Portal -

\- Magnus, Alec and Gurak followed her through it, and it spit them out on the western edge of the stadium’s parking lot. Magnus focused on the binding thread again, watching as it readjusted, book almost dropping from his and Alec’s hands as it quaked, knowing it was in close proximity to what it was bound to.

“This way.” Magnus and Alec led the way down the hill, away from the stadium and into the residential neighbourhood, needing to stop to readjust their grips on the shaking book, and each other, at regular intervals. Night had fallen, but the binding thread was now a bright white, and Alec wasn’t sure if the Black Volume was angry or happy that it was coming closer to that which bound it. He started to smell sulfur again, and could see the angelic shield faltering where he gripped the book.

“We have to move.” Alec said through clenched teeth. “These shields won’t hold much longer.”

The binding thread led them a few streets further, and by the time they made the street of the house they were looking for, they didn’t need the binding thread to know where they were going anymore. The entire block was lit up with white and gold energy, winds blowing hard around Magnus and Alec as they fought to move forward with the book between them. A horde of demons was attempting to assault the house at the epicentre of the light, but whatever was inside was holding them off, so they merely prowled the perimeter, looking for a way in.

“Cristina, Gurak, hold them off.” Magnus yelled into the wind. “They’ll make for the book, but we need to get it inside, and release these bindings.”

Gurak dove ahead of them, chanting as he went. As he reached the edge of the horde of demons, he clapped his hands once, then pulled them wide, and as if he was Moses parting the Red Sea, the line of demons cleaved in two, allowing Magnus and Alec to dive in through the gap. Alec heard demons begin to shriek in pain, and knew that Cristina was hard at work, and he hoped that she and Gurak would be able to hold them off on their own.

They entered the house without knocking, following the wild energy to the basement door. Alec tore it open and they ran downstairs, where they were met with a sight neither one of them expected.

In contrast to the light and energy show going on upstairs and outside, the basement was relatively calm, save for a teenage boy clutching a white book, convulsing on the floor.

“What do we do?” Alec asked. “Something tells me that is magical and not medical.”

“It is.” Magnus said. “He’s trying to contain it.”

“How do we unbind him from the book? And the books from each other?”

“We need to know who he is first. And more importantly, _what_ he is. You mentioned angelic energies, but I don’t see any runes. He’s not a Shadowhunter.”

“Neither was Clary, until she saw us in Pandemonium the first time. She killed a demon with a seraph blade and absolutely no training. Help me get one of his hands loose.”

Alec knelt down in front of the boy, who seemed non-responsive until Alec touched his hand, at which point his eyes opened in fear.

“Hey, hey.” Alec said reassuringly. “We’re here to help. I want to help you, okay? I know what you’re trying to do, I know the energy that that book is trying to take from you. But we’re going to stop it. Just trust me, okay?”

“Sh - Sh - _Shadowhunter_.” The boy spat out, looking both angry and terrified at the same time. He narrowed his eyes and looked closer at Alec’s runes. “Some weird-ass _Shadowhunter_.”

“You know about Shadowhunters?” Magnus asked.

“Course I do.” The boy mumbled. “Always coming around the Shadow Market. Oh sure, in this city everyone’s friends, but my dad’s been elsewhere. He knows it isn’t always like that. He says where Shadowhunters go, bad stuff follows.”

“I’m not a Shadowhunter.” Magnus said, flashing his cat eyes. “But I’ve been working with Shadowhunters for many years. You don’t have anything to fear. We’re here to help. Do you know Malcolm Fade?”

The boy nodded with difficulty, the book still making him shake. “He gave me this book. Said it would protect us. Told me not to tell my dad about it. Now all hell’s broken loose. Demons killed my dad when he went outside, and they’ve been trying to get in. I think they’re trying to eat the book.”

“Malcolm Fade was a warlock, like me.”

“Duh.”

“And he was into some seriously bad magic. Necromancy. Using this book.” Magnus and Alec lifted the Black Volume. “He’s dead now, but somehow he tied that book to his life force, and this one to yours, and the books to each other, and because he’s gone, every bit of magic he wrought is breaking down. We need to know what that book is so that we can stop it.”

“How the hell should I know? I can’t read a word of it. I’ve tried. I just know it kept the demons away.”

“You see demons?”

“Of course I do. I’ve got the Gift. That’s what my dad called it. The other people in the Shadow Market call it the Sight.”

“You’ve got more than that, if Malcolm was able to tie that book to your life force.” Magnus said. “Much more.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’ve got Nephilim blood.” Alec said, continuing when the boy looked confused. “Shadowhunter blood.”

“Like hell I do.”

“Look, we can argue about this later.” Magnus said. “Right now, all we need to know is: Do you want to live?”

“Of course I do.”

“Good. Now listen to me very carefully. I need you to lie as still as you can, while we perform a spell to disengage that book from your life force.”

“We?”

“Alec and I. Remember you said he was some _weird-ass Shadowhunter_? You’re right, he’s not a normal Shadowhunter. He’s half warlock too.”

The boy narrowed his eyes. “You’re the one they’re always talking about. The one who created chaos in the Shadowhunter world, and now half the cities in the world are in love with you, Shadowhunter and Downworlder alike.”

“It isn’t quite like that.” Alec said. “But I guess the basics check out. I know magic. So does Magnus. And together we can help you. Will you let us?”

“Fine.” The boy lay on his back, struggling to stay as still as possible, arms still locked in a vice-grip around the book.

Alec wasn’t certain how they were going to do this with no hands to spare, but Magnus positioned them so they were on either side of the boy, holding the Black Volume up in the air, out of the range of any possible kicking, while pressing their other hands - keeping their pinkies hooked together to keep that contact with each other - to the boy’s chest.

Magnus and Alec aligned their breaths with one another, breathing in unison, before they began the unbinding. Alec hadn’t done spells like this often, but the Alliance rune kept him in sync with what Magnus was doing, channeling their shared power through the boy and the book.

Magnus chanted several incantations that Alec could only understand half of - he was still learning demonic languages - and he cut off as a bright light pulsed through the room, and the boy was still.

Alec pulled back, moving around to kneel next to Magnus, the Black Volume still vibrating, tenuous in their grip. The angelic shield was almost completely gone now, they needed to separate the books too, and quickly.

“Hey. Kid. You all right?” Magnus asked.

The boy opened one eye. He wasn’t convulsing anymore, but he kept his arms around the book as he sat up slowly.

“I’m all right. This book is mad jumpy though, but it doesn’t feel like a part of me is anymore.”

“Okay. Good. Now I’ll need you to hand the book to us. You’re okay, now, but that won’t mean anything if we don’t disconnect these books from each other, you get that? They’ve got an unimaginable amount of power, and they’ll still make the city implode if we can’t separate them.” Magnus explained.

Kit narrowed his eyes at Alec, but nodded. He pulled the book away from his chest, holding it out to them, and Magnus and Alec reached for it, pinkies still hooked together.

Their hands were inches from the book when the boy snarled “Like hell I’m giving it to a _Shadowhunter_ ”, as he leapt to his feet and shoved the book at Magnus’ chest.

As the book connected, a nightmarish sound tore its way from Magnus’ throat and he slumped to the floor, his fingers slipping from the Black Volume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I'm sure you book readers have figured out who the boy is, if you hadn't already guessed from the hints in the last story ;) But I'm sure there are more pressing questions right now - such as what is this book, and what did it do to Magnus? Stay tuned for next week to find out ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabelle travels to Los Angeles to support her brother, and the warlocks reveal a shocking twist about the book that is hurting Magnus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we set the tone for what this sequel series will be all about... I've had this idea for MONTHS, so I'm glad that I can finally get it going! Thanks for sticking around, and the next stories in this series will have alllll sorts of interesting and unexpected twists and turns for our boys to go through. But all in the service of a happier happy ever after, I promise <3
> 
> Still some _Lady Midnight_ spoilers surrounding the Big Bad.

Everything that happened next was a blur to Alec.

He must have drawn on his Alliance rune, drawn on Magnus’ magic, because his own magic wouldn’t have allowed him to wreak such devastation.

Gurak and Cristina must have burst into the room just in time to shield Kit, because the teenager was still alive and breathing, despite what he’d done to Magnus (however inadvertent it may have been).

Alec could still feel the lingering threads of his magic thrumming through the power of the Alliance rune. His hands itched, the magic both familiar and alien at the same time, after having been used in a way he’d never done before.

 _It’s okay._ Isabelle whispered to him, stilling his hands. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d started scratching his skin off. _It’s okay._

Alec didn’t know who had called her. Or how they even got back to the Los Angeles Institute.

But nothing was okay.

His anger had reduced half of central Los Angeles to rubble. No mundanes had been killed, Isabelle said, as though they couldn’t _see_ the wild energy from Malcolm’s disintegrating spells, they’d _felt_ that something wasn’t right and already long since fled the neighbourhood.

Aline was unconscious. The Blackhorns were still unconscious.

 _Magnus_ was unconscious.

And Alec didn’t know how to wake him. His only comfort was that Magnus was stable. The demonic magic still simmering in Alec’s veins wanted to rip out the throats of everyone around him to get an answer, to get a solution, but now in the light of day he clamped down on it, tried to will it out of his body, to try and get _control_ again.

Alec appreciated, now, what Magnus lived with every day. Alec knew that Magnus kept a very tight hold on his powers, because he knew that he could be too powerful, if he let himself forget what he was capable of. There had been a few times over the years when Alec had gotten a taste of Magnus’ angry magic - never directed towards him, thankfully, always towards a particularly nasty enemy - but it had been just a tiny glimpse, nothing compared to the devastation that Alec was looking at now, seated in a tower of his own making, high above the Los Angeles Institute, so that he could see with his own eyes what he’d done.

Magnus would be so ashamed of him.

 _Everyone_ would be so ashamed of him. What kind of a leader was he, who let himself fly into such a rage? He had half of the world’s Shadowhunters relying on him to be a good and fair leader. And this is what he had to show for it?

“You’re thinking too loudly, Alec.” Isabelle murmured into his shoulder. “Talk to me.”

“What is there to say?” Alec whispered. “There’s nothing okay about any of this. What’s happened to Magnus. What _I_ did. There’s nothing I can say.”

“Magnus was hurt, and you lashed out. You underestimated how connected you were. It happens.”

Alec scoffed. “When most people lash out, they could break a lamp or put a hole through a wall. I destroyed half the city. That needs more than just a _it happens_.”

“What do you want me to say, Alec?” Isabelle asked. “Do you want me to yell at you? What good would that do? You know that what happened was bad. I don’t need to tell you. I’m not going to punish you for it, because I know that’s what you want. It’s been a few years, a few _great_ years, but I know that in times of stress, we fall back on old habits. And your old habits are _incredibly_ self-destructive, big brother. I’m not going to let you go down that path. I won’t enable it. Jace and Magnus both might indulge you from time to time, but I won’t.”

“Where is Jace anyway?”

“He’s following our contingency plans. He’s being a leader - taking over your job for the time being. Complaining about it all the way, I’ve already gotten a number of frustrated texts from Clary, so _please_ big brother, get your head back on straight so that we can get back to the business of saving the world.”

“I’m not leaving here. I need to fix this.”

“What, the city? I think that’s best left to the mundanes. We can make an anonymous donation to some local charities from our treasury, but that’s about all we can do.”

“ _No._ ” Alec said through clenched teeth. “Magnus. I need to fix Magnus. And whatever is wrong with him, it is all connected with what’s wrong with Aline and the Blackthorns too. I’m not sure how, but by Raziel I will find out.”

“Okay. Then let’s go do that. Do you promise to stop moping so that we can take action then?”

Alec nodded shakily, and Isabelle stood, ready to head to the door, when Alec reached out and grabbed her hand.

“Izzy, wait.”

Alec closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself, and focus on the tasks in front of him. The tasks _he and only he_ could do. But all he could see was Magnus collapsing in front of him, all he could hear was that terrible sound he’d made when he’d done so, all he could _feel_ was that terror that had overwhelmed him in that moment.

But the Alliance Rune was dormant, and all Alec could do was collapse at his sister’s feet, sobbing.

“I’m so scared, Iz.” Alec wept. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

Isabelle knelt down in front of him, wrapping her arms around her brother. “I know. But we’ll figure it out. We will. I promise. The world’s best warlocks are downstairs waiting for you. You need to help them, and together you can help him. And the others. Because that’s what you do. I have faith in you, big brother.”

“Even after -”

“ _Yes._ ” Isabelle cut him off sternly. “No more self-loathing. That is extremely self-serving, and that is not you. You can do better than that. I know you’re scared and upset because your husband is in trouble and you have every right to cry about that, and I will be here for you as long as you need me while you do that. But no hating yourself for what’s done. Are we clear?”

“We’re clear. Thank you, Izzy.”

“Don’t mention it.”

* * *

Some time later, after refreshing himself with a shower and methodically dismantling the tower he’d somehow built, Alec returned to the infirmary, Isabelle a steadying presence by his side.

Cristina, Emma, Adalina and Gurak stood around a worktable they’d moved into the infirmary. They looked up as Alec and Isabelle came in.

“I’m sorry.” Alec said, offering no further information as to what precisely he was sorry for, knowing that if he got into more detail, he’d be in danger of collapsing into an inconsolable heap again. “What do we have?”

“I’ll start with the good news.” Adalina said. “I feel you may want some.”

“Please.”

“I’ve analyzed the potion that put Aline to sleep. It’s harmless, really, and she’ll wake with no ill effects once she has the cure.”

“Good. That is good. Do you have the cure?”

“That would be part of the bad news.” Adalina looked towards the beds. “We have the cure, yes. But until we solve the curse on the Blackthorns, Aline can’t get the cure.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Helen is the cure.” Emma said flatly, not looking up from the table. “True love’s kiss.”

“That’s a thing?” Alec asked curiously. “I thought that was just in fairy tales.”

“Usually it is.” Adalina said. “But remember, Malcolm was in love. So in love that he was willing to raise his love from the dead, centuries later, because he was still so devoted to her.”

“He was trying to raise Annabel. Why would he have a… a… _Sleeping Beauty_ potion, for lack of a better word? Wouldn’t that put her back to sleep?”

“A different state of being from being dead.” Gurak pointed out. “While I’ve never done it myself, of course, I’ve heard stories of necromantic rituals. And all of them describe the process as extremely painful for the one being resurrected. It is likely that Malcolm intended on using it as a balm of sorts, bringing her back from the dead and then putting her under this spell, to spare her the pain of resurrection as her body reformed.”

“Makes sense, I guess. So if we wake up the Blackthorns, then all Helen needs to do is kiss Aline and she’ll wake as well?”

“Yes.” Adalina said.

“Okay. Any progress on the curse on the Blackthorns?”

Isabelle noticed that Alec was trying to hold off as long as he could in asking about Magnus, though she knew that was the real question taking up her brother’s mind.

“I believe I’ve identified the curse in the Black Volume here that is responsible.” Gurak tapped the cover of the book.

“Is it safe to touch it?”

“Oh, yes.” Gurak said. “Whatever it was that you did, it tore apart the bindings between the two books quite effectively. The bindings were what made it dangerous. Of course, the contents of the book are still vile and horrible and from the very depths of Hell, but the book itself won’t harm anyone by just being here.”

“I didn’t mean to tear apart the bindings.” Alec said honestly, stopping there as he felt Isabelle squeeze his elbow.

But Gurak and Adalina must have picked up where his train of thought was going, because they smiled at him sympathetically.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Mr Lightwood.” Adalina said. “Every warlock loses control of their magic at one point or another. Then we learn how to control it, to channel it, to express it safely.”

“I should have learned by now.”

“You’ve never had the need.” Gurak said. “I know you and your powers and your bonds quite well at this point. Your magic has its own built-in restraint system. It doesn’t let you lose control. But since the Alliance Rune tapped you into Magnus’ magic as well, you don’t have the same failsafes when it comes to his power. He does, but since he lost consciousness, well… we all saw what happened. It was an unfortunate set of coincidences. That’s all it was. But shall we return to the matter at hand?”

“Please.”

“Like I said, I believe I’ve identified the curse that Malcolm used to try and draw on the Blackthorns’ power to be able to raise Annabel, since they’re of the same blood. When he was… stopped… the curse didn’t progress further. It is in a stasis of sorts.”

“So the spell didn’t stop, that’s what you’re saying?” Alec said slowly. “Malcolm started the resurrection spell, which unleashed the curse onto the Blackthorns, cutting down almost everyone else in its path, but when he died, the spell didn’t end, just paused until someone else completes it?”

“Until someone else completes it, or undoes it.”

“How do we undo it?”

“It isn’t going to be easy, but I can do it. But this is very dark magic. Along with the approval of the High Warlock Council, it will require a sacrifice.”

“Someone’s going to have to die?” Cristina asked.

“Hopefully not, but there is a substantial risk. The more people who participate, the safer it will be, but the criteria for who can be involved limits the pool substantially.”

“What do we need to do?” Emma asked, still not looking up from the table. “Whatever needs to be done, I’ll do it.”

“You’re that young man’s parabatai, aren’t you?”

“Jules. Yes.”

Gurak nodded. “Yes, you will be necessary to the spell. As will anyone else who is bound to the Blackthorns in any way. Do any of the others have a parabatai?”

Emma shook her head. “No.”

Gurak looked at Aline, tucked into one bed with Helen. “The girls are married?”

“Helen and Aline?” Alec asked. “Yes, they are.”

“I don’t like to do magic without a party’s consent, but given that Aline won’t wake without Helen, under the circumstances I suppose I can bend that rule and involve her as well.”

“Aline would say yes.” Emma said. “I’d do anything for Jules. She’d do the same for Helen. I promise.”

“Still though…” Gurak mused. “Only two people, and there are seven of them. That would still be exceedingly dangerous for both you and Aline.”

“Angelic magic.” Isabelle said suddenly, looking at Alec. “The ritual to awaken angelic magic. We always do that in groups of ten. That’s a binding of sorts, isn’t it? The people who are awakened together?”

Alec looked at Gurak. “Would that work? Is that enough? We have also performed magic together, when we worked on that binding on Lake Lyn.”

“For the lack of other bindings, it might have to do. Can you assemble all ten of the participants of your circle?”

“Mark, Helen and Aline were three of them, but we can get the other seven, yes.” Alec said. “Will that be enough?”

“It’ll have to be, if you’re all willing. With nine participants that aren’t cursed, the odds do increase in our favour.”

Alec turned to Isabelle. “Izzy, can you - I mean, I have to - please -”

“Don’t worry, big brother.” Isabelle reassured him. “I’ll call everyone. You’ve been very noble, in asking about Aline and the Blackthorns, but I don’t think anyone is going to hold it against you if you ask about Magnus.”

Isabelle kissed Alec’s cheek and squeezed his arm, disappearing out the door. Alec took a deep breath, closing his eyes, composing himself, before looking up to the two warlocks.

“What can you tell me about Magnus?” Alec asked, struggling to keep his voice steady.

Gurak and Adalina looked at each other. “Not much, I’m afraid.” Adalina said, shaking her head. “The book - this is out of the realm of our power. There’s nothing that we can do.”

“What do you mean? I assumed it was some other powerful magical tome. Maybe something that someone had stolen from the Silent Brothers, but still something you could use. Something with answers.”

“I’ve already spoken to the Silent Brothers.” Gurak said. “This was never in their possession. Like the rest of us, they believed it was a legend. They don’t know where it came from, or how it ended up in Malcolm’s possession, much less why he let it go into the hands of a teenager who doesn’t even know he’s a Shadowhunter.”

“A legend? What _is_ this book?”

“The Book of Raziel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Answers, and then more questions! Subscribe to the series to be notified when the next story is out!


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